England all rounder includes three active international players in his dream team.

Samit Patel has played more than 50 international matches for England across all three formats

What’s the story?

England all-rounder Samit Patel has included the Asian trio of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara in his all-time XI. The 32-year old picked three active international cricketers his dream team. He also revealed that Tendulkar was his childhood hero.

The Context

Samit Patel has played 6 Tests, 36 ODIs and 18 T20Is for England. Having made his international debut in an ODI against Scotland in Edinburgh in 2008, he struggled with his fitness and had an on and off career. The left-arm spinner has picked 38 wickets across all the three formats.

More comfortable with the bat, the attacking right-hander more than 800 runs including a couple of fifties. His last appearance at the international stage came in the 2015 Sharjah Test against Pakistan.

The heart of the matter

In a video posted on Lord’s Cricket Ground‘s official Youtube account, Patel announced his collection of some of the greatest players to have ever featured in the game. Unlike most other dream teams, his side does not carry nationalistic bias as evident from the presence of only two Englishmen in the eleven.

Sehwag and Amla have been tasked with opening the innings. The middle-order boasts of accomplished and versatile batsmen such as Ponting, Tendulkar, Kallis. Maverick England star Pietersen, who has fallen out of favour with his board, completes the batting lineup alongside Sangakkara.

Even though the Sri Lankan maestro did not keep wickets for majority of his Test career, he will stand behind the stumps in Patel’s eleven.

The bowling attack emanates a pace-heavy feel to it. There could be an interesting battle for the new-ball between Steyn, McGrath and Anderson. While the Australian seamer brings metronomic accuracy with him, the Englishman can swing the ball both ways. The South African bowler has an extra hard of pace which could be crucial on barren tracks as well as conditions favourable to reverse-swing.

Warne has to man the spin department on his own although he can expect the likes of Sehwag and Tendulkar to chip in with a few useful overs. Kallis doubles up as the fifth bowler in Patel’s team.

Video

Sportskeeda’s Take

When compared to the all-time XIs of most other cricketers, Patel’s team looks extremely strong and balanced in every department. The batting lineup is teeming with plenty of stylish stroke-players while the bowling attack seems to have most bases covered. Perhaps, the lack of a specialist second spinner appears to be the only weakness should the side were to play on Asian soil.